Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A ( ), popularly known as the Brasileirão ( ), is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B. The season runs from May to December of the same year, with teams playing 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is known as the Brasileirão Petrobras. Due to historical peculiarities and the large geographical size of the country, Brazil has a relatively short history of nation-wide football competitions. The modern Campeonato Brasileiro only started in 1971, supported by the military regime of the time and made easier by the advancements in civil aviation and air transport. Before the establishment of a national league the most prestigious football competitions in Brazil were the state leagues, notably the Campeonato Paulista and Campeonato Carioca state championships (the tournaments of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states). Most state competitions have a much longer history than the national competition and, consequently, the various state leagues were considered more prestigious than the national league during the first years. Since 1959, seventeen clubs have been crowned Brazilian football champions. The current champions are Fluminense, who won the 2012 season. History Between 1959 and 1970, two national championships existed to define the Brazilian champions and to provide Brazilian representatives to Copa Libertadores. These were the Taça Brasil (1959–1968) and the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (1967–1970). The current Campeonato Brasileiro was created in 1971 using the structure of Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. The system used until 1987 was similar to FIFA World Cup or UEFA Champions League: the best clubs of each State Championship were separated in several small groups. Then the best of each group played the play-offs. But every year some aspects of format, number of entrants and rules changed. In 1979, all big clubs from São Paulo, except Palmeiras, withdrew from competition. They protested against the odd system of tier qualification which made their rivals, Palmeiras and Guarani, enter only in the final phase (due to their being previous-year finalists) and also asking for the same privileges. Indeed oddly enough, Guarani finished in the top 12 playing only 3 games and Palmeiras finished third despite playing only 5 games in a tournament with 96 entrants. In 1984, Juventus, a small club from São Paulo, managed to qualify for the Série A. Participants of that year could be promoted from and relegated to Série B in the middle of the tournament. Juventus thus started the tournament in the premiership, was relegated in the middle of the tournament but eventually managed to clinch the Série B title. Despite this the team was not promoted to Série A in the following year and failed to qualify to it from the state championship. In 1987, the CBF announced it had no financial conditions to organize the Brazilian football championship, a mere few weeks before it was scheduled to begin. But the Confederation said that he would try to a sponsor or agreement with the clubs for they finance themselves with travel, without an agreement, would be a tournament regionalised. As a result, the thirteen most popular football clubs in Brazil created a league, dubbed the Club of the 13, to organize a championship of their own. This tournament was called Copa União and was run by the 16 clubs that eventually took part in it (Santa Cruz, Coritiba and Goiás were invited to join), completely without the permission of CBF and contradicting (a move not unlike the creation of club-administered leagues in Europe). Further to reconcile the interests of CBF with Club of the 13, Copa União would be called Green Module and Copa Brasil, call Module Yellow at the end there should be a cross between the champions and vices from both modules(groups) for both teams decide just who the two representatives of Brazil would dispute the Copa Libertadores in 1988. Flamengo and Internacional eliminated by W.O. not presented by the dates set, abdicated up to participate. Sport and Guarani did in the final two games that enshrined the as Brazilian champion of 1987. Officially by CBF: Yellow Module, 16 clubs + Green Module, 16 clubs = Brazilian Championship 1987, 32 clubs. In 1999, an averaging relegation system similar to the one used in the Primera División Argentina was adopted. The two clubs with the worst point results in the first stage of the two previous seasons were to be relegated. However, this system only lasted for a single season. During the first stage it was discovered that one player was registered with false documents. Due to this scandal CBF decided to punish the player's team cancelling the games in which this player took part. Due to this, the average points of some clubs were changed so one club lost positions and was relegated. This club immediately sued CBF, so this institution was prevented to host 2000 Brasileirão. In light of this, Clube dos 13 organized the championship of that year. Before 2003, the format of Série A changed almost every year; for specifics, see Campeonato Brasileiro tournament scheduling. Since 2003, the Série A has been contested in a double round-robin format and the team with most points is declared champion. There is no final match, which is a very controversial subject. Prior to 2003, the Brazilian championship had traditionally been decided with some type of playoff format (most commonly the "Octagonal", where the top 8 regular season teams comprise a single elimination tournament), rather than the European model of points accumulation over a season. Although some purists complain that this system lacks the dramatic scenes of playoffs and finals, the competition has so far shown to be well balanced, without a small number of clubs dominating the league, a phenomenon often found in many European leagues. Eleven matches of the 2005 competition were annulled due to a match-fixing scandal and had to be replayed. For the 2006 season, the number of contestants was reduced to 20 and CBF claims it to be the "definitive" format. In 2006, a limit on the number of foreign players was set, such that no team can have more than three foreign players on the field or on the bench in a single match. The seasons with the largest number of entrants of the competition were: 2000 (116 entrants), 1979 (94 entrants) and 1986 (80 entrants). In 2010, CBF decided to recognize the champions of the defuncts Taça Brasil and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa as Brazilian Champions. TV partners Premiere FC Rede Globo Rede Bandeirantes SporTV Fox Sports ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America GolTV (Canada) ESPN Deportes GOL TV SuperSport Albania Sporting Telenet Canal+ Sportdigital.tv Nova Sports Sportklub Sportitalia Sport1 Sportklub Sportklub Sportklub Digital+Futbol Lig TV ESPN UK Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Dowaly Center Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Al Jazeera Sports Ten Sports CCTV5 TV Tokyo Starhub Media Al Jazeera Sports Super Sport Super Sport Competition format Twenty clubs compete in the Série A. Since the 2003 season, the league began using a double round-robin format as the competition format. Each team plays the other clubs twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 games. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero for a loss. Teams are ranked by points, with the team with the most points at the end of the season crowned the champion. If teams are tied in points, wins then goal difference determine the ranking. The four lowest teams in the rankings are relegated to the Série B. International qualification The top four teams in rankings qualify for the following season's Copa Libertadores. Teams ranked 1 to 3 enter in the Second Stage, with the team ranked 4 entering in the First Stage. The next eight teams in the rankings qualify to the following season's Copa Sudamericana, with all those teams entering in the Second Stage. Should any of the qualified teams win the Copa do Brasil in the same season, their berths are awarded to the next ranked teams. Awards and trophies Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão is the league's official award. Placar magazine's Bola de Ouro is the oldest award, while the Troféu Osmar Santos and the Troféu João Saldanha are awards given by the newspaper Lance!. 2013 clubs (*) After Inauguration. List of Brazilian football champions Players Best attendances Sources: UOL Placar magazine - Guia do Brasileirão 2010(May 2010) Guia Brasileirão 2010. Placar n. 1342. Editora Abril, pg. 121 and GloboEsporte.com Website. See also * List of Brazilian football champions * Copa do Brasil, the national cup competition * Campeonato Brasileiro tournament scheduling, historical development of Campeonato Brasileiro from 1971 until today. * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football * Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third division of Brazilian football * Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth division of Brazilian football * Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20, the official U-20 national football tournament * Campeonato Brasileiro de Seleções Estaduais, the tournament contested by state teams between 1922–1962 and in 1987. * Brazilian Football State Championship, the football competitions in the 26 states of Brazil and the Federal District * Torneio Rio-São Paulo, the inter-state competition between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two strongest football states at the era, held from 1950 to 1966 * Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, the national tournament from 1967 to 1970 * Taça Brasil, the national tournament from 1959 to 1968 * Football in Brazil References External links * CBF Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Brazilian Football Confederation * Campeonato Brasileiro Vídeos dos gols do Campeonato Brasileiro Série A * RSSSF Brazil links * Best Attendances 1971/2008 * zerozero.pt * Map of Serie A club locations * Brazilian Championship News (in English) * Futpedia The Brazilian Football Encyclopedia, with historical statistics about championships, clubs, games, athletes, and more (Portuguese). * Champions Squads Category:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 1 1 Brazil ar:الدوري البرازيلي لكرة القدم bg:Бразилия Серия А ca:Campionat brasiler de futbol cs:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A da:Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol de:Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol et:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A el:Πρωτάθλημα ποδοσφαίρου ανδρών Βραζιλίας es:Campeonato Brasileño de Serie A eo:Brazila Ligo fa:لیگ برتر فوتبال برزیل fr:Championnat du Brésil de football gl:Campionato Brasileiro de Fútbol Série A ko:브라질 세리 A hr:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A it:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A he:ליגת העל הברזילאית lv:Brazīlijas futbola čempionāta A sērija hu:Brazil labdarúgó-bajnokság (első osztály) nl:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A ja:カンピオナート・ブラジレイロ・セリエA no:Série A pl:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A pt:Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol ro:Campeonato Brasileiro da Série A ru:Чемпионат Бразилии по футболу (Серия A) sr:Серија А Бразила у фудбалу fi:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A sv:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A tr:Campeonato Brasileiro Série A uk:Бразильська футбольна Серія A vi:Giải vô địch bóng đá Brasil zh:巴西足球甲級聯賽